Poker
Poker is a family of popular and distractive games. Playing online Poker you will have a lot of fun and excitement and, in addition, you may benefit from substantial winning money.
You can play 24 hours a day with your friends and even against the best poker players around the world. If necessary, you can get 24/7 supports for any problem or question you may have.
We offer to you playing online with Pacific Poker by clicking on the banners published on this page. Pacific Poker has advanced software combining cutting edge technology with astonishing graphic design.
We advice you to play for practice before you join a Real Money game.
For “Real Money” play will be offered to you a variety of bonuses. For example, 25% bonus, up to 100$, will be given to you for yours first deposit.
Getting Started
Download the software offered by Pacific Poker and install it. At the end of the installation process, you will already be at the entrance to the Pacific Poker Lobby.
Before you join in the Real Money game it is recommended to practice. For this purpose you should click on "Practice Play" to proceed. Follow the registration procedure and start practice.
For Real Money game you should set up an account with pacific Poker.
For Real Money players Pacific Poker have a variety of fast and efficient depositing methods, including among others:
· NETeller
· Moneybookers
· Credit Card
· Western Union
· Wire transfer
For your winnings money withdraw can be used the same methods as for deposit.
For new players it is recommended to read all the information posted on this page before you start playing.
Poker is a popular card game in which players, each holding one or more cards whose face value is concealed, place wagers into a central pot. The pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet. Poker can also be referred to video poker, a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine, or to other games that use poker hand rankings.
The card game of poker has many variations, most of them created in the United States in the mid-1900s. The standard order of play applies to most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game requires details about which hand values are used, the number of betting rounds, and exactly what cards are dealt and what other actions are taken between rounds.
Popular poker variants
The three most popular poker variants are spread in casinos and poker rooms worldwide and can be divided into the following groups:
· Draw Poker: Games in which players are dealt a complete hand, hidden, and then improve it by replacing cards. The most common of these is Five-card-draw
· Stud Poker: Games in which each player receives a combination of face-up cards and face-down cards in multiple betting rounds. The most common of these are Seven-card-stud (7 Stud and 7 Stud H/L) and Five-card-stud.
· Community Cad Poker: Games in which each player's incomplete hidden hand is combined with shared face-up cards. The most common of these are Texas hold’em and Omaha (Omaha Hi and Omaha H/L).
Hand Ranking
In poker, certain combinations of cards, or hands, outrank other hands, based on the frequency with which these combinations appear. The player with the best poker hand at the showdown wins the pot.
The following general rules apply to evaluating poker hands, whatever set of hand values are used:
· Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low, but only when part of an A-2-3-4-5).
· Suits have no value and are mainly used in determining whether a hand fits a certain category.
· A hand always consists of five cards.
· Hands are ranked first by category, then by individual card ranks.
Royal Flush
An ace-high straight flush such as A♣ K♣ Q♣ J♣ 10♣ is known as a royal flush, and is the highest ranking standard poker hand.
Straight Flush
A straight flush is a poker hand such as Q♠ J♠ 10♠ 9♠ 8♠, which contains five cards in sequence, all of the same suit. Two such hands are compared by their high card in the same way as is done for straights (will be defined later). The low ace rule also applies: 5♥ 4♥3♥ 2♥ A♥ is a 5-high straight flush (also known as a "steel wheel").
Examples:
Four of a kind
Four of a kind, also known as quads, is a poker hand such as 9♣ 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ J♥, which contains four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card. It is ranked above a full house (will be defined later) and below a straight flush. Higher ranking quads defeat lower ranking ones.
Examples:
("four tens" or "quad tens")
DEFEATS
("four sixes" or "quad sixes")
Full house
Two examples of a full house: The three kings on the right beats the three queens on the left
A full house, also known as a boat or a full boat, is a poker hand such as 3♣ 3♠ 3♦ 6♣ 6♥, which contains three matching cards of one rank, plus two matching cards of another rank. It is ranked below a four of a kind and above a flush (will be defind later). Between two full houses, the one with the higher ranking set of three wins. If two have the same set of three the hand with the higher pair wins.
Examples:
("tens full")
DEFEATS
("nines full")
("kings full")
DEFEATS
("threes full")
("queens full of eights")
DEFEATS
("queens full of fives")
Flush
A flush is a poker hand such as Q♣ 10♣ 7♣ 6♣ 4♣, which contains five cards of the same suit, not in rank sequence. It is ranked above a straigh and below a full hous. Being two flushes, the highest ranking card of each is compared to determine the winner; if both have the same high card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, etc. The suits have no value: two flushes with the same five ranks of cards are tied.
Examples:
("ace-high flush")
DEFEATS
("king-high flush")
("flush, ace-king high")
DEFEATS
("flush, ace-queen high")
Straight
A straight is a poker hand such as Q♣ J♠ 10♠ 9♥ 8♥, which contains five cards of sequential rank, of varying suits. It is ranked above three of a kind (will be defined later) and below a flush. Two straights are ranked by comparing the high card of each. Two straights with the same high card are of equal value, and split any winnings.
A hand such as A♣ K♣ Q♦J♠ 10♠ is an ace-high straight, and ranks above a king-high straight such as K♥ Q♠ J♥ 10♥ 9♦. But the ace may also be played as a 1-spot in a hand such as 5♠ 4♦ 3♦ 2♠ A♣, called a wheel (will be defined later) or five-high straight, which ranks below the six-high straight 6♠ 5♣ 4♣ 3♥ 2♥.
Examples:
("eight-high straight")
DEFEATS
("six-high straight")
Three of a kind
Three of a kind, also called trips, set or a prile, is a poker hand such as 2♦ 2♠ 2♥ K♠ 6♠, which contains three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards. It is ranked above two pair (will be defined later) and below a straight. Higher ranking three of a kind defeat lower ranking three of a kind. If two hands have the same rank three of a kind, the unmatched are compared to break the tie.
Examples:
("three eights")
DEFEATS
("three fives")
("three eights, ace kicker")
DEFEATS
("three eights, five kicker")
Two pair
A poker hand such as J♥ J♣ 4♣ 4♠ 9♠, which contains two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatched card, is called two pair. It is ranked above one pair (will be defined later) and below three of a kind. Between two hands containing two pair, the higher ranking pair of each is first compared, and the higher pair wins. If both have the same top pair, then the second pair of each is compared. Finally, if both hands have the same two pairs, the unmuched (called kickers) determines the winner.
Examples:
("kings up")
DEFEATS
("jacks up")
· 
TIES
One pair
One pair is a poker hand such as 4♥ 4♠ K♠ 10♦ 5♠, which contains two cards of the same rank, plus three unmatched cards. It is ranked below all other poker hands. Higher ranking pairs defeat lower ranking pairs. If two hands have the same rank of pair, the non-paired cards are compared to determine the winner.
Examples:
("pair of tens")
DEFEATS
("pair of nines")
("tens with jack kicker")
DEFEATS
("tens with six kicker")
("deuces, eight-five-four")
DEFEATS
("deuces, eight-five-three")
Poker Procedure
Players in a poker game act in their turn in clockwise rotation (acting out of turn can negatively affect other players). When it is a player's turn to act, the first declaration or action he takes binds him to his choice of action; this rule prevents a player from changing his action after seeing how other players react to his initial action.
A player may fold (will be defined later) by surrendering his cards (some games may have specific rules regarding how to fold--for example, in stud poker one must turn one's upcards face down). A player may check (will be defined later) by tapping the table or making any similar motion. All other bets are made by placing chips in front of the player, but not directly into the pot.
Hereafter will be defined poker game actions:
Open
The act of making the first voluntary bet in a betting round is called opening the round. On the first betting round, it is also called opening the pot. Some poker variations have special rules about opening a round that may not apply to other bets. For example, a game may have a betting structure that specifies different allowable amounts for opening than for other bets, or may require a player to hold certain cards to open.
Call
To call is to match a bet or a raise. A betting round ends when all active players have bet an equal amount or no opponents call a player's bet or a raise. If no opponents call a player's bet or raise, the player wins the pot.
Check
If no one has yet opened the betting round, a player may check which is equivalent to calling the current bet of zero. When checking, a player declines making a bet; indicating that he does not choose to open, but that he wishes to keep his cards and retain the right to call or to raise later in the same round if an opponent opens. In games played with blinds, players may not check on the opening round because they must either match (or raise) the big blind or fold.
Raise
To raise is to increase the size of the bet required to stay in the pot, forcing all subsequent players to call the new amount. If the current bet amount is nothing, this action is considered the opening bet. A player making the second (not counting the open) or subsequent raise of a betting round is said to re-raise.
Standard poker rules require that raises must be at least equal to the amount of the previous bet or raise.
Fold
To fold is to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot. Folding may be indicated verbally or by discarding one's hand face down into the pile of other discards called the muck.
A poker player is never required to expose his concealed cards when folding prior to the showdown.
Forced bets
All poker games require some forced bets in order to create an initial stake for the players to contest. The requirements for forced bets and the betting limits of the game (see below) are collectively called the game's betting structure.
Ante
An ante is a forced bet in which each poker player places an equal amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins. In poker games where the acting dealer changes each turn, it is not uncommon for the players to agree that the dealer provides the ante for each player. This simplifies betting, but causes minor inequities if other players come and go or miss their turn to deal.
Blinds
A blind or blind bet is a forced bet placed into the pot by one or more players before the deal begins, in a way that simulates bets made during the poker play. The most common use of blinds as a betting structure calls for two blinds: the player after the dealer blinds about half of what would be a normal bet, and the next player blinds what would be a whole bet. Sometimes only one blind is used, and sometimes three. In the case of three blinds (usually one quarter, one quarter, and half a normal bet amount), the first blind goes "on the button", that is, is paid by the dealer.
When one or more poker players in the small or big blinds leaves the game, an adjustment is required in the positioning of the blinds and the button. In online poker cash games, the simplified moving button rule is common (the button always moves forward to the next player and the small and big blinds post in the two seats to the left of the button. Players may miss blinds).
Bring-in
A bring-in is a type of forced bet that occurs after the cards are initially dealt, but before any other action. One player, usually chosen by the value of cards dealt face up on the initial deal, is forced to open the betting by some small amount, after which players act after him in normal rotation.
Post
Some cash games require a new player to post when joining a game already in progress. Posting in this context means putting an amount equal to the big blind into the pot before the deal. The post is a live bet, meaning that the amount can be applied towards a call or raise when it is the player's turn to act.
A player who is away from his seat and misses one or more blinds is also required to post to reenter the game. In this case, the amount to be posted is the sum of the big and small blinds, if both blinds were missed. The big blind amount is live, but the small blind amount is dead, meaning that it cannot be applied towards a call or raise.
Limits
Betting limits apply to the amount a player may open or raise, and come in four common forms: no limit, pot limit (the two collectively called big bet poker), fixed limit, and spread limi (a game played with a spread-limit betting structure allows a player to raise any amount within a specified range).
Showdown
In all poker games, if more than one player remains after the last betting round, remaining players expose and compare their hands to determine the winner or winners. This is called the showdown.
To win any part of a pot, a poker player must show all of his cards faceup on the table, whether they were used in the final hand played or not. Cards speak for themselves: the actual value of a player'shand prevails in the event a player mis-states the value of his hand.
Ring and Tournament games
Ring games, also called cash games or live action games, are poker games played with "real" chips (tokens) and money on the line, usually with no predetermined end time.
A poker tournanent is played with tournament chips (worth nothing outside the tournament) with a definite end condition (usually, only one player left).
Players may freely buy into or cash out of a ring game between hands. However, it is normally prohibited for a player to remove a portion of his or her chips from the table.
One difference between tournaments and cash games is that the blind/ante structure of tournaments increases periodically over the course of the tournament, whereas the blind/ante structure of cash games remains constant. Another difference between the tournaments and cash games is that a tournament sticks with a predeterminded style of poker, and cash game players, may have the option of playing other types of card games.
A popular poker variant – Texas hold’em
Texas hold 'em (also hold'em, holdem) is one of the most popular online poker variant. So, the rules of this poker game will be brought hereafter:
Hold 'em is a community card poker game – some cards are available to be used by all players – in contrast to games like stud or draw where all the cards are available only to their respective, individual players. The number of the players is up to 8.
Because each player only starts with two cards and the remaining cards are shared, it presents an opportune game for srategic analysis (including mathematical analysis).
Like all variants of online poker, in Texas hold 'em individuals compete for an amount of money contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money placed in the pot by the players based on the hands they hold.
The game is divided into a series of hands or deals, at the conclusion of each hand the pot is awarded to one or a few players. A hand ends either at the showdown (when the remaining players compare their hands), or when all but one player has folded and abandoned their claim to the pot. The pot is then awarded to the players who have not folded and have the best hand. (This is usually only one player, but can be more in the case of a tie.)
Rules
Betting structures
A standard hold 'em game showing the position of the blinds relative to the dealer button
Hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. Antes (forced contributions by all players) may be used in addition to blinds, particularly in later stages of tournament play. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. In tournament poker, the blind/ante structure periodically increases as the tournament progresses. When only two players remain, special 'head-to-head' or 'heads up' rules are enforced and the blinds are posted differently. In this case, the person with the dealer button posts the small blind, while his/her opponent places the big blind. The dealer acts first before the flop (will be addresed later). After the flop, the dealer acts last for the remainder of the hand.
Play of the hand
There are only two private cards in hold 'em. They are dealt first.
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. (Like most poker games, the deck is a standard 52 card deck, no jokers.) These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown.
The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has either folded or put in all of its chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players.
After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop - the first three face-up cards to the board and being community cards.The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise.
After the flop betting round ends a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.
The showdown
If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the five community cards. A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since each other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.
If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties Note that the card's numerical rank is of sole importance;suit values are irrelevant in Hold'em.
Chat
Poker games are social, keeping players’ interaction. In order to keep the online Poker games as close as possible to the real-life, Pacific Poker have implemented a “chat” that help players to communicate each other. A great part of the game’s enthusiastic atmosphere is created due to the players’ interaction.
In case you find out the chat distracting, you can turn it off or to adjust it to receive only the dealer’s announcements.
Good luck, enjoy and have a lot of fun!
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